Mission type | Astronomy |
---|---|
Operator | ESA |
Website | sci.esa.int/echo |
Mission duration | 4–5 years [1] [2] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Launch mass | 2,100 kg (4,600 lb) [3] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2024 [1] |
Rocket | Soyuz STA/Fregat [2] |
Launch site | Kourou ELS [3] |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Sun–Earth L2 [2] [3] |
Regime | Halo or Lissajous |
Epoch | planned |
Main telescope | |
Type | Cassegrain [2] |
Diameter | 1.4 m (4.6 ft) [2] |
Focal length | 2 m (6.6 ft) [2] |
Collecting area | 14 m2 (150 sq ft) [2] |
Wavelengths | from 0.55 μm (orange) to 11μm (long-infrared) (goal: 0.4 to 16 μm) [1] [2] |
The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) was a proposed space telescope [2] as part of the Cosmic Vision roadmap of the European Space Agency, and competed with four other missions for the M3 slot in the programme. On 19 February 2014 the PLATO mission was selected in place of the other candidates in the programme, including EChO. [4]
EChO would have been the first dedicated mission to investigate exoplanetary atmospheres, addressing the suitability of those planets for life and placing the Solar System in context. EChO was intended to provide high resolution, multi-wavelength spectroscopic observations. It would have measured the atmospheric composition, temperature and albedo of a representative sample of known exoplanets, constrain models of their internal structure and improve understanding of how planets form and evolve. [5] It would have orbited around the L2 Lagrange point, 1.5 million km from Earth in the anti-sunward direction.
Following PLATO's M3 selection, a proposal to add EChO on the joint Japanese-European SPICA far-infrared telescope emerged. [6] The proposed EChO instrument on SPICA (SPEChO) is a spectrometer covering light wavelengths from 5 to 20 micrometres, and will observe exoplanet atmospheres utilizing transit spectroscopy. [6] [7] As long with a potential to recover the original scientific goals from EChO, SPEChO will enable SPICA to conduct specialized exoplanetary science studies. SPEChO may also be useful for the science case of galaxies. [8] However SPEChO's capabilities overlap with the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), therefore SPEChO's advantages over other instruments has become a focus of whether or not to include it on SPICA. [6] [9]
HD 209458 b is an exoplanet that orbits the solar analog HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 157 light-years from the Solar System. The radius of the planet's orbit is 0.047 AU, or one-eighth the radius of Mercury's orbit. This small radius results in a year that is 3.5 Earth-days long and an estimated surface temperature of about 1,000 °C. Its mass is 220 times that of Earth and its volume is some 2.5 times greater than that of Jupiter. The high mass and volume of HD 209458 b indicate that it is a gas giant.
Gaia is a space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 2013 and expected to operate until 2025. The spacecraft is designed for astrometry: measuring the positions, distances and motions of stars with unprecedented precision, and the positions of exoplanets by measuring attributes about the stars they orbit such as their apparent magnitude and color. The mission aims to construct by far the largest and most precise 3D space catalog ever made, totalling approximately 1 billion astronomical objects, mainly stars, but also planets, comets, asteroids and quasars, among others.
The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021. Herschel carries a 3.5-metre (11.5 ft) mirror and instruments sensitive to the far infrared and submillimetre wavebands (55–672 µm). Herschel was the fourth and final cornerstone mission in the Horizon 2000 programme, following SOHO/Cluster II, XMM-Newton and Rosetta.
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) is a national Dutch institute for space research. It develops and uses innovative technology for analysis in space, focusing on astrophysical research, Earth observation, and exoplanetary research. SRON research includes new and more advanced sensors for X-rays, infrared radiation, and visible light.
NGC 6357 is a diffuse nebula near NGC 6334 in the constellation Scorpius. The nebula contains many proto-stars shielded by dark discs of gas, and young stars wrapped in expanding "cocoons" or expanding gases surrounding these small stars. It is also known as the Lobster Nebula. This nebula was given the name War and Peace Nebula by the Midcourse Space Experiment scientists because of its appearance, which, in infrared images the bright, western part resembles a dove, while the eastern part looks like a skull. A petition by anime fans to rename it as the Madokami nebula, due to resemblance with a character, was unsuccessful.
HD 189733 b is an exoplanet in the constellation of Vulpecula approximately 64.5 light-years away from the Solar System. Astronomers in France discovered the planet orbiting the star HD 189733 on October 5, 2005, by observing its transit across the star's face. With a mass 11.2% higher than that of Jupiter and a radius 11.4% greater, HD 189733 b orbits its host star once every 2.2 days at an orbital speed of 152.0 kilometers per second, making it a hot Jupiter with poor prospects for extraterrestrial life.
Gliese 682 or GJ 682 is a red dwarf. It is listed as the 53rd-nearest known star system to the Sun, being 16.3 light years away from the Earth. Even though it is close by, it is dim with a magnitude of 10.95 and thus requires a telescope to be seen. It is located in the constellation of Scorpius, near the bright star Theta Scorpii. The star is in a crowded region of sky near the Galactic Center, and so appears to be near a number of deep-sky objects from the Solar System's perspective. The star is only 0.5 degrees from the much more distant globular cluster NGC 6388.
The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), was a proposed infrared space telescope, follow-on to the successful Akari space observatory. It was a collaboration between European and Japanese scientists, which was selected in May 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a finalist for the next Medium class Mission 5 (M5) of the Cosmic Vision programme, to launch in 2032. At the time the other two finalists were THESEUS and EnVision, with the latter that was eventually selected for further development. SPICA would have improved on the spectral line sensitivity of previous missions, the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes, between 30 and 230 µm by a factor of 50—100.
PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is a space telescope under development by the European Space Agency for launch in 2026. The mission goals are to search for planetary transits across up to one million stars, and to discover and characterize rocky extrasolar planets around yellow dwarf stars, subgiant stars, and red dwarf stars. The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in a liquid state. It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and is named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato. A secondary objective of the mission is to study stellar oscillations or seismic activity in stars to measure stellar masses and evolution and enable the precise characterization of the planet host star, including its age.
Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The SAFARI imaging spectrometer was the European image sensor of Japanese infrared telescope SPICA and is being developed under the leadership of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research. SAFARI is an infrared camera with about 6,000 pixels that can make real ‘photos’ of the sky in three adjacent wavelength areas. Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS) obtains detailed spectral information, allowing astronomers to determine the chemical composition of the observed celestial sources. The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) is developing the mechanism of this FTS.
Giovanna Tinetti is an Italian physicist based in London. She is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at University College London, who researches galactic planetary science, exoplanets and atmospheric science.
The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) is a space telescope and the fourth medium-class mission of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme. The mission is aimed at observing at least 1000 known exoplanets using the transit method, studying and characterising the planets' chemical composition and thermal structures. Compared to the James Webb Space Telescope, ARIEL will be a much smaller telescope and have more observing time available for planet characterisation. ARIEL is expected to be launched in 2029 aboard an Arianespace Ariane 6 together with the Comet Interceptor.
Contribution to ARIEL Spectroscopy of Exoplanets (CASE) is a detector subsystem contribution to an infrared spectrometer instrument for the planned European ARIEL space telescope. It is being developed by NASA as a contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) project to add scientific capabilities to the space telescope to observe the chemical composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets, as well exoplanetary metallicities. The ARIEL spacecraft with CASE on board is planned to launch in 2029.
Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target, and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.
Katherine Gudrun Isaak is a British astrophysicist and the Project Scientist for the European Space Agency Characterising Exoplanet Satellite mission (CHEOPS). She is based at European Space Research and Technology Centre.
WASP-88 is a F-type main-sequence star. Its surface temperature is 6450±61 K. WASP-88 is similar to the Sun in its concentration of heavy elements, with a metallicity Fe/H index of 0.03±0.04, and is younger at an age of 3.0±1.3 billion years.
Thérèse Encrenaz is a French planetary scientist who "played a leading role in the development of planetology in Europe". Her research concerns extraterrestrial atmospheres, particularly of the planets and comets in the Solar System. She is a research director for the CNRS, emeritus, affiliated with the Paris Observatory.